Portable buildings

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a portable building that may have its individual building elements prefabricated at a suitable facility. The completed building elements are capable of being transported to a desired location for erection there. The building elements are suitable manufactured to meet the required building codes and accepted building practices.

Nov. 5, 1974 l nited States Patent [1 1 Abrams, deceased Edgar..........Wade 970 Dickinson.............,.......,.........

5 m m a e CD1. a dew n m 0" mw m Ary m ub P O w 0 J S r m m mm .mmmbVhCA PORTABLE BUILDINGS [76] Inventor:

[22] Filed: Mar. 19, 1973 Primary ExaminerHcnry C. Sutherland AssistantExa'mint'rLcslie A. Braun Appl. No.: 342,645

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Grover A. Frater a mm 0 e a n w .m & mm DD- mTw Cnm Aok Pe T. wm B m A e b l 3 a mm mm i VS nu 6 7 V a Th suitablefacility. The completed building elements are capable of beingtransported to a desired location for References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS Ill 1874 erection there. The building elements are suitablemanufactured to meet the required building codes and accepted buildingpractices.

Brock 52/756 52/90 3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures I57 238 Spofford 638,49412/1879 2,765,500 l0/l956 PORTABLE BUILDINGS BACKGROUND It is wellrecognized that there is a great need for buildings whose elements maybe economically prefabricated at a mass production type of facility andthen transported at minimum cost to an erection site where theprefabricated building elements may be combined to form a building.Moreover, there are also times when the building should be demountablein the sense that it is adapted for disassembly without its parts beingseriously altered whereby it can be transported to and reassembled at,still another location.

It is, of course, essential that all such building elements, and thecompleted building, be constructed in accordance with the building codesin effect at the erection location and that it be constructed towithstand the wind loads, snow loads, sand loads and the like to whichthe building may be subjected.

There have been other attempts. to prefabricate building elements forerection kit-like elsewhere and those efforts have had some success.This invention extends that work to produce a large building that can betaken apart after erection with relative ease and without destroying itsparts so that it can be reassembled elsewhere practically andeconomically. That result is obtained by the use of several specialconstructional features including: a special ridge beam which combineswith side members fixed to the roof sections to form a composite beam; aspecial clamping system for clamping end wall halves to one another andto the ridge beam; a special roof construction at the cave; and otherfeatures.

OBJECT AND DRAWINGS It is one of the principal objectives of the presentinvention to provide an improved portable building.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide an improvedbuilding that may have its elements economically prefabricated at asuitable mass production facility.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide animproved'portable demountable building that conforms to the buildingcodes.

A still further objective is to provide a building whose features makeit physically and economically feasible to assemble and dissassemble abuilding several times notwithstanding the passage long periods of useand weathering between assembly and disassembly.

That attainment of these objectives and others has been realized in theinvention will be apparent from a study of the following specification,taken in conjunction with the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the building;

FIG. 2 shows a pictorial view of the assembled build- 8;

FIG. 3 shows an internal partial view of a portion of the front section;

FIG. 4 shows a bolting arrangement for tensioning the from section;

FIG. 5 shows a view of a portion of the side section as assembled to theroof section and to the foundation;

FIG. 6 shows an internal view of the tensioning of the roof sections;

FIG. 7 shows a view of the blocking of a roof seam;

FIG. 8 shows a view of the blocking of a stud. FIG. 1 shows an explodedview of abuilding comprised of a plurality prefabricated buildingelements that have been transported to a desired location, which hasbeen suitably prepared for the building as by construction of afoundation, piping, electrical wiring and drains. While the invention isapplicable to other building styles and sizes the embodiment selectedfor illustration has the form of a two-car garage having a gable-typeroof.

In the preferred arrangement the building is prefabricated into fourmain assemblies which are transported complete to the site. Theseassemblies are the ridge beam and the right and left halves of thebuilding and, when there is one, the large door. A major advantage ofthe construction is that assemblies of half buildings complete with roofand siding can be transported. The tributary weight of each half-roof istemporarily supported by a beam which, after assembly, is combined withbeam elements excessively heavy to be carried by either roof half alone.The temporary beam elements are joined on assembly' with the separatelytransported beam to form a composite ridge beam.

Providing a construction that will permit such prefabrication andconstruction in halves is an important object of the invention. However,any degree of fabrication is possible prior to transportation to thebuildings resting site. The drawings show one arrangement of partiallyprefabricated sections not to imply that the arrangement shown is betterthan others but only because that arrangement would facilitateunderstanding of what parts are involved and how they are related afterassembly.

In FIG. 1 the building elements are shown to include a ridge beam core11, a right side section 12, a rear wall '13, a left side wall 14, afront wall 15, and a right roof section 16. The left roof section 16ahas beem omitted from FIG. 1 in the interest of simplification of thedrawing and to provide greater visibility of the remaining parts.

THE RIDGE BEAM The basic construction is the same whether the roof isflat or is of the gable type. The gable type is used more often becauseit sheds water, snow and ice. and because it tends to be stronger. Ingeneral, the flat roof is used only where it is necessary to mountsomething that requires a flat surface.

The use of a wooden main beam is not mandatory but is more advantageousand the preferred embodiment employs wood. The ridge beam is special. Itconsists of a central core 11, to which side members are added in thefinished assembly to form a composite in which the core beam is flankedon either side by stringers that form a part of the roof sections. Across-section of the composite central beam and the means by which itsparts are held together is shown in FIG. 6 where the composite beam isdesignated 25. The core in this case is made of two 2 inch X 12 inchplanks 17 joined sideto-side by an adhesive.

THE RIGHT SIDE SECTION Wall 12 is the wall at the right side of thebuilding in FIG. 1. In this building it is 22 feet long and it is madein one piece with outside sheathing attached. It is formed, according toconventional frame construction practice, with a bottom plate 19 thatrests atop a mud sill 20 which in turn rests upon the outer edge of thefoundation 18. The lower plate is formed with through holes at spacedpoints along its length to receive anchor bolts that are imbedded in thefoundation and protrude upwardly through the mud sill. Those anchorbolts are placed at the time that the foundation is poured and they arepositioned so that they will fit into the plate holes when the buildingis erected.

Consistent with conventional frame construction, the wall is formed by aseries of studs 22 that extend vertically from connection to the lowerplate 19. In this embodiment, the side wall studs are spaced 24 incheson center. They are connected at their upper ends by a plate 23 whoseends are flush with the outside surface of the two end studs. While thebuilding shown does not employ them, the side wall frame will includebraces and fire stops and blocking according to the requirements oflocal codes. In this embodiment a sheathing 24 has been included. Thatmay be omitted but if it is included the sheathing should extend abovethe upper plate 23 to cover the eave end stringer of the roof section sothe sheathing extends up to and abuts, or almost abuts, the roofcovering 49 as shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment the sheathing 24extends forwardly and rearwardly of the stud frame sufficiently far tooverlap the ends of the rear wall 13 and the front wall 15. This featurecan be understood by examination of the right end of the rear wall 13 inFIG. 1 in relation to the rear end of the side wall 12 of FIG. 1.

THE REAR SECTION Although the width of the building is only twenty feet,the front and rear sections are each divided into two halves on a planemidway across their width. There are two reasons for that. The totalheight of the center sections in this embodiment is ten feet and inlarger buildings may be higher. Because of that height it may not bepossible, in view of highway regulations, to transport the front andrear sections lying flat upon a truck bed in the fashion that the sidewalls can be carried. It may be necessary instead to transport themuprightly whereby division in half will greatly facilitate handling.

Like the side wall, the rear wall 13 employs a frame construction. Thetwo half sections 13a and 13b are mirror images of one another. Bothemploy a base plate 19a which is provided with holes to match anchorbolts that project up from the rear foundation through the rear mud sill20a. A series of studs 22a extend from the lower plate upwardly to anupper plate 230 in the case of member 13a and 23b in the case of member13b. The studs 22a and 22b of the set gets longer closer to the centerof the rear wall to form the end gable. Otherwise the construction sofar described is like that of the side wall. The end studs at the outeredges of the rear wall, are heavier and serve as columns. The two innerstuds or uprights 27 are also heavier and together they serve as acolumn to support the composite ridge beam and its load. These uprights27 are cut away at their inner upper ends. The upper plates 23a and 23bterminate at the cut out. Together uprights 27 and plates 23a form anotch 26 into which the composite ridge beam 25 will fit. The cutout isformed so that the ridge beam will be tightly grasped between theuprights when the two uprights 27 are clamped together by bolts 27a.

THE LEFT SIDE SECTION The left side section 14 is just like the rightside section 12 with the exception that a portion of it has been cutaway to form a door opening. That door opening is.

framed out according to conventional building construction and buildingcode practice. Otherwise it is like the side section 12. It has a lowerplate which fits on the mud sill and is held there by being bolted toanchor bolts that are imbedded in the foundation slab. It is formed withstuds that correspond to studs 22 of the right wall 12 and it is fittedwith an upper plate corresponding to plate 23 of wall 12. In this case,the mud plate is cut away at the door opening but the foundation is notlowered at that point. That is a matter of choice.

THE F RONT' SECTION The front section is also prefabricated. It isformed with a large double doorway opening to accommodate a truck whichis closed by a garage door 32. The door and the manner in which it ishung are conventional. The remainder of the front section is notconventional. Like the rear section 13, the front section 15 is dividedinto two portions, a left front half section 15a and a right front halfsection 15b. As in the case of the rear wall division is made tofacilitate transportation and handling. In addition, division into twosections facilitates clamping the front section against the sides of theridge beam 11.

The construction of the front section is shown in FIG. 3. Again, the twohalves of the front section are mirror images of one another. At theouter portion of each half section the lower member is a platecorresponding to the plates of the other sections. In this case theplate is designated [90. The studs rise from that. In this case thefirst two studs or uprights serve as columns and are made of heaviermaterial. The outer column 60 extends the full height of the side andabuts the under side of the tie beam 38. The other upright the one thatforms the side of the door opening 31 in FIG. 3, is designated 33. It isa heavy member constructed, in this case, of two uprights which may besecured together by any convenient means. At its lower end upright 33rests on the plate 19c and its upper end underlies and supports a header34. The header extends from the inside edge of upright 60 at the rightto the center line of the front section 15 which marks the center edgeof the half section shown in FIG. 3. The eave end of the upper plate 23crests atop the tie beam 38 but the connection is hidden from view by agusset plate 62 which is used to tie them together. At its other end theupper plate 230 rests atop the upper end of a column 36 whose lower endabuts the upper side of the header 34. These elements are fastenedtogether and the whole assembly is strengthened by a sheathing 64 whichis applied to the exterior of the end by short stud sections 66 whichseparate the header 34 and tie beam 38 and by stud sections 68 whichrest at their bottom ends against the tie plate 38 and at their upperends on the bottom side of the upper plate 230. Stud 67 differs from thestud 66 and stud 69 differs from the stud sections 68 in that they abutagainst clamping members that are bolted to the upper and lower sides ofthe cross beam 38. In the case of the front half section 15a, thoseupper and lower clamping members are designated 70 and 72, respectively.As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, these two clamping members are bolted bya series of bolts 76 to opposite sides of the tie beam 38 which ends ata point between the stud sections 67 and 69on one hand and a member 36at the other side. The ends of members 70 and 72 abut against the sideof member 36. Those members 72 and 70 are held tight against the centralmember 36 by a bolt set 45. The bolt extends through member 36 of fronthalf section a and through section 36a of the other front half section.The bolt is connected at each side of the center column formed bymembers 36 and 36ato a metal strap which is generally V-shaped in theregion between each of the tie beams 38 and 38a and the center members36 and 36a. The lower end of the strap is sandwiched between member 72on the lower side of tie beam and the upper end of the strap issandwiched between the tie beam 38 and the upper member 70. The bolt set45 includes a head 45a which is lodged in the apex of the strap 440 atthe left in FIG. 4, and the nut 45b at the other end of the bolt set 45bears against a spacer 46 which in turn bears against the apex of theV-shaped portion of metal strap 44. Tightening of the bolt 45 to pullthe straps 44 and 44a toward one another, pulls on the tie beam 38 andthe members 70 and 72 forcing the members 70 and 72 against the face ofmember 36 forcing it toward contact and connection with the member 36a.This arrangement provides a very strong construction, no part of whichis damaged either in assembling or disassembling the building. And itprovides a connection which will not deteriorate with time. If the boltset is kept from corroding, a simple task, the passage of time will haveno effect upon the ability to disassemble and reassemble the connection.In this case member 36 and its counterpart in the other front wall halfare notched at 36b and 36c toprovide clearance for the apex of thestraps.

ROOF SECTION Although the under side of the roof section is not shown inplan view in any of the drawings, the construction of the roof sectioncan be understood from an examination of the several figures. Thesections employ regular frame construction. A series of spaced raftersare arranged in parallel from one end of the section to the other. Oneof those rafters 80 is visible in FIG. 5 and two others 81 and 82 arevisible in FIG. 6. Another rafter 83 can be seen in FIG. 7. The raftersare made of wood and they are conventional. Their size and spacing isdictated by conventional engineering considerations and the codes. Astringer 50 connects all of the rafters of roof half 16 at the cave end.A stringer 84 connects all of the rafters at their roof peak end. Thestringer 84 will be assembled so that it lies side by side with theridge beam 11 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and in assembled condition itforms part of the ridge beam. A similar stringer 84a is connected to theridge end of the roof section 16a and it lies against the opposite faceof ridge beam 11. The stringers 84 and 84a, and therefore the roofsections, are tied to the ridge beam 11 by a bolt 56. One end of thebolt is welded to a plate 54 which is bolted to a rafter of roof section16a. The bolt itself extends through a hole in the stringers 84 and 84aand the beam 11 and through an opening in an arm of an L-shaped bracket55 which is bolted to a rafter on the roof side 16. The roof sectionsand the ridge beam are connected together at each rafter set.

OTHER FEATURES The ridge beam 11 in this embodiment is made of a pair oftwo-by-fours. The two stringers 84 and 84a have their top edges taperedto conform to the pitch of the rafters but essentially are two-by-tens.In assembled condition the bottom edge of all of these members is madeflush so that the center ridge extends above the two stringerssufficiently far so that it will also extend above the roof boards orroof sheathing. The roofing is ordinarilyapplied as part of roof sectionfabrication. For the sake of clarity, no fire blocking has been shown inthe walls spanning the studs. However, some building codes require thatsuch blocking be employed and when it is employed it is innerfitted withthe studs in the manner illustrated in FIG. 8 where in an exploded viewthe stud .22 is shown to have a notch which innerfits with a'notchformed in the block 58. The two notches are arranged so thatcorresponding sides of the stud and the block are flush with oneanother.

FIG. 7 illustrates that a batten 57 is used at the juncture of sectionsof the sheathing material that are used to complete the roof sections.

THE ASSEMBLED BUILDING The manner in which the building is assembledwill be apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 and an examinationof FIGS. 5 and 6. The order of part erection can be altered and would bechanged somewhat depending upon what equipment was available for liftingthe component parts of the building from the delivering vehicle and forlifting the roof sections 16 and 16a. In one procedure the four walls ofthe building are erected first. They are interconnected at theiradjacent corners by means not shown in the drawing and which will varysomewhat as the sheathing material is changed. In any event the use ofremovable fasteners is envisioned. The two roof sections are then placedin position atop the walls so that the center stringer, 84 in the caseof roof section 16, rests in the notch 26 of the rear wall and the notch52 of the front wall. Thereafter the core beam 17 is placed between thestringers 84 and 84a so that the ends of stringer 11 fit between them inthe notches 26 at the rear and 52 at the front of the building. The bolt45 at the front wall and the bolts 27a at the rear wall will have beentightened as part of the wall erection procedure. It remains only toinsert the bolts 56 through the ridge beam 25 at each rafter and tocomplete the assembly with the brackets 54 and 55. As the bolt 56 isturned up tight the inner ends of the rafters, 81 and 82 in the case ofFIG. 6, abut against the stringers 84 and 84a and clamp them to thesides of the ridge core 11.

What is claimed is:

I. A multi-element portable building comprising:

a ridge beam core;

a prefabricated front wall;

a prefabricated rear wall;

a prefabricated right wall;

a prefabricated left wall;

a right roof section;

a left roof section; and

fastening means for joining adjacent sections,

whereby said elements of said building may be transported to, andassembled at, a desired location;

said right roof section-and said left roof section each comprising astringer capable of being assembled flush with a respectively associatedside of said ridge beam; and means for clamping said stringers and ridgebeam core together; said front wall and said end wall being notched atopposed points on their upper edges to receive said ridge beam core andsaid stringers; at least one of said front wall and said end wall beingdivided into separable sections each ending in an upright which abutsagainst the back of the other when said sections are assembled; saidfastening means comprising a bolt set one end of which is fixed to oneof said sections and the other of which is fixed to the other of saidsections; eachof said sections comprising a tie beam secured to saidsection and extending in a direction toward said upright, said fasteningmeans further comprising a metal strap of generally V" shape having itsapex extending toward said upright and its arms bolted to said tie beam,the head of said bolts being secured in the apex of the clamp of one ofsaid sections and the nut of said bolt sets being disposed at the apexof the V" shaped strap of the other of said sections.

2. In a prefabricated building having a wall which is divided into twosections each of which is formed with an upright along the line of itsconnection with the upright of the other section:

means for clamping said sections together comprising a pair of tie beamseach secured to a respectively associated wall section and extendingtowards the upright of its wall section and ending at a point spacedfrom said upright whereby a space between them remains;

two pairs of clamping members each member of a pair being fixed toopposite sides of a respectively associated one of said tie beams andextending from connection to said tie beams into abutment with theupright associated with said one of said tie beams, whereby a cavity isformed bounded by said upright, said clamping members and said tie beam;and

fastening means including a fastening element extending from throughuprights from the cavity of one wall section to the cavity of the otherand a pair of holding means fixed to said tie beam and said clampingsections for maintaining said fastening element in said cavities.

3. Invention defined in claim 2 in which each holding means comprises aV shaped metal strap having its apex disposed in one of said cavitiesand having each of its arms clamped between the tie beam of said sectionand a respectively associated one of said clamping members.

1. A multi-element portable building comprising: a ridge beam core; aprefabricated front wall; a prefabricated rear wall; a prefabricatedright wall; a prefabricated left wall; a right roof section; a left roofsection; and fastening means for joining adjacent sections, whereby saidelements of said building may be transported to, and assembled at, adesired location; said right roof section and said left roof sectioneach comprising a stringer capable of being assembled flush with arespectively associated side of said ridge beam; and means for clampingsaid stringers and ridge beam core together; said front wall and saidend wall being notched at opposed points on their upper edges to receivesaid ridge beam core and said stringers; at least one of said front walland said end wall being divided into separable sections each ending inan upright which abuts against the back of the other when said sectionsare assembled; said fastening means comprising a bolt set one end ofwhich is fixed to one of said sections and the other of which is fixedto the other of said sections; each of said sections comprising a tiebeam secured to said section and extending in a direction toward saidupright, said fastening means further comprising a metal strap ofgenerally ''''V'''' shape having its apex extending toward said uprightand its arms bolted to said tie beam, the head of said bolts beingsecured in the apex of the clamp of one of said sections and the nut ofsaid bolt sets being disposed at the apex of the ''''V'''' shaped strapof the other of said sections.
 2. In a prefabricated building having awall which is divided into two sections each of which is formed with anupright along the line of its connection with the upright of the othersection: means for clamping said sections together comprising a pair oftie beams each secured to a respectively associated wall section andextending towards the upright of its wall section and ending at a pointspaced from said upright whereby a space between them remains; two pairsof clamping members each member of a pair being fixed to opposite sidesof a respectively associated one of said tie beams and extending fromconnection to said tie beams into abutment with the upright associatedwith said one of said tie beams, whereby a cavity is formed bounded bysaid upright, said clamping members and said tie beam; and fasteningmeans including a fastening element extending from through uprights fromthe cavity of one wall section to the cavity of the other and a pair ofholding means fixed to said tie beam and said clamping sections formaintaining said fastening element in said cavities.
 3. Inventiondefined in claim 2 in which each holding means comprises a ''''V''''shaped metal strap having its apex disposed in one of said cavities andhaving each of its arms clamped between the tie beam of said section anda respectively associated one of said clamping members.